Harry Potter and the Guardian's Choice
by Ravenwood240
Summary: Harry stands between life and death. Some one with power is giving him a choice. When I wrote this, that was going to be the end. Now, it is a hundred words longer and may become chapter one or a new story.


_Just a random thought that occurred to me as I was working on SoG13. It wouldn't go away though, so I wrote it down just to get it out of my head. It is a conversation between two beings. One is Harry Potter. The Other.... I don't know yet. She's female and she has power beyond belief, that's all I know right now._

_AN the second: I said there wouldn't be any more of this.... and the durn thing kept coming back, a sentence here, a word there and then a whole paragraph. So, like so many other things, it's an addition, added to when it attacks me. BoB, MM&WS, SoG and PenStraw are the ones I am working on. And Grame Manifesto. And SoM. And 1001 Deaths. And a dozen more. (Looks at list.) I need a life._

_Raven_

_**Harry Potter and the Guardian's Choice**_

"_You would have the power to protect people from anything you know about. No man could beat you, no power stop you."_

Harry was still unsure about where he was. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. _"You stand in the space between Life and Death. Behind you lies Life. Before you is Death and what comes after." _Harry vaguely remembered being hit by some sort of curse during a battle at the front gate of Hogwarts.

Harry finally looked at the being addressing him. It was a vaguely human shaped light, bright white with other colours shimmering over it like oil on water. It radiated power and light in equal measure and Harry had passing thoughts about God until it flared. _"I am nothing so weak as a god. I exist across all time and space. I am the Guardian of Magic. You may call me Solenja."_

"What's the catch? No one ever gives anything away for free."

"_There is no catch, only one stipulation. You will remain as you are, immortal and unchanging until another comes along who can take your place. There has always been a Guardian, since before the first man spoke. He-Who-Protects is old and tired and you can replace him, if you wish."_

Harry had an instant of ironic humour. He was being offered everything Voldemort wanted for free, and he'd even get another of those hyphenated titles.

"Will I be able to kill Voldemort?"

"_Easily."_

Harry thought about it. Ron and Draco had died just two days ago, and there were just seven survivors of Harry's year in Hogwarts, a mere seven people left to take their NEWTs in a month. Hundreds of people had died in the last year as Voldemort ramped up his attacks, Wizards, Muggles, women, children. Harry had fought, but between Voldemort's greater experience and the help of the Death Eaters, Harry and the DA were losing. This would let him change that, save lives and end this war once and for all.

He took a deep breath and thought. Defeating Voldemort would be great, but what then? He would always remain a boy of seventeen even as ... He pushed the thought of the woman that had invaded his heart away. She would grow old and die while he never changed, everyone he knew would grow old and die while he could do nothing about it. He would become a myth, a living legend that would always be there for the people to call on, they would never learn to stand up for them selves. Did he really want that responsibility? Could he turn it down and watch more people die?

Harry thought about it for some time, aware of the being waiting patiently until he looked up at her.

He made his decision.

_**OoOoOoO The Author, Here and Now. OoOoOoO**_

_What Harry decided to do is left is left to your imagination. This is all there will ever be of this story from me. (Yea, verily, that is what I thought then.... Solenja has decided otherwise.)_

_Raven_

_Omake by SomeGuyFawkes:_

"No catch but I would be unstoppable?" _"Yes."_ "There has always been a guardian? What stops them, or me, from becoming a tyrant?" _"Oh, well this is normally covered in your orientation but there are the_ _regulations and the paperwork." _The being gestured to its left, of course, and Harry saw row, after row, of shelves and filing cabinets fade into view. They were stacked as high as Harry could see and as far back as Harry could detect too. Harry groaned, "Kill me now and be done with it!" _________________________________________________________________________ 


End file.
